80 years of the Dartmouth Players

Cast of the Farmers Wife

80 years of the Dartmouth Players

What is it that enables a local group to survive for 80 years? Is it a special appeal, something beyond individual efforts, something very much loved? Whatever the reason, the Dartmouth Players are currently celebrating 80 years of local drama and 213 productions that have entertained not only Dartmouth audiences but countless members as well.

The group was formed in 1929 by Cyril Maude, an ex professional light comedy actor/manager who retired to Dartmouth after a stage career spanning 42 years. Cyril Maude began his career as an actor in 1883 in America and from 1896 to 1905 was co-manager with F. Harrison of the Haymarket Theatre in London. He became distinguished for his quietly humorous acting.

Cyril Maude purchased Redlap House in 1924 and lived there when he retired a few years later. A barn was converted into a rehearsal space and the very first production was 3 one act plays presented at the Dartmouth Subscription Rooms, later to become the Guildhall, in the spring of 1929. This was to become the main venue for Dartmouth Players productions for the next 76 years until the new Flavel Theatre arrived in 2005. Between 1929 and the outbreak of the war in 1939, the group put on an average two plays a year and entered a number of local and National drama competitions.

One of Cyril Maude’s enduring characteristics was his great respect for non-professional actors and his willingness to help talented actors on the road to fame. One such person was the daughter of the then head master of the Royal Navel College, Miss Rachael Kempson. He persuaded her to join the Dartmouth Players and then apply for a place at RADA, where she became a great success. She later appeared at the Liverpool rep where her leading man was Michael Redgrave whom she married in 1935. She appeared in many plays and films with her now famous theatrical family.

The war years saw a break in activities but Cyril Maude got it all under way again, this time with himself taking more of a back seat. The first post war production was “Pink String and Sealing Wax” by Rowland Pertwee. The longest serving Dartmouth Players member well remembers this production, and many others. She is Miss Irene Scawn who later became very well known in Dartmouth public life. Miss Scawn joined in 1938 and remembers many times being summoned to Redlap House by “eight o’clock sharp” to assist Cyril Maude with Dartmouth Players business.

The Society thrived in the post war years, usually producing 3 plays a year. One person who stands out over this period was Geoffrey Cobbold. Not only was he Chairman for 30 years but also produced a record breaking 20 plays, right up to 1980. The formula of plays with box sets was broken in 1972 by Juliet Alexander with the first musical, “The Boy Friend” by Sandy Wilson. Popular musical theatre then became an intermittent feature of productions until rising costs later made this unsustainable for a while. Another milestone was the introduction of pantomime in 1984 with “Cinderella” by John Morley, produced by David Kelland.

Many local drama groups have failed to respond to change and closed but this is certainly not the case of the Dartmouth Players. A combination of the move to the new Flavel Theatre, investment in modern theatre technology plus new writing and musical composition has given the group a terrific boost, both in creative innovation and financial sustainability. This summer the group will be performing a “Victorian Music Hall Cruise” aboard the Dart Explorer on the 10th June 2009, tickets from the Flavel box office. Pantomime has become a regular “sell out” item each December. This year it is to be “Robin Hood” by Bill Hunt with music and lyrics by Norman Cork. Anyone interested in performing should bring along an audition piece to the Dartmouth Players Studio at Southford Road, Dartmouth on the 2nd or 7th June. All productions need not only actors, singers and dancers but a large back stage crew so there is a fun place for everyone in this much loved local group.